Baseline data on cyanobacterial diversity near the new “Princess Elizabeth” Antarctic
research station.
Rafael Fernandez-Carazo1,Zorigto Namsaraev1,Damien Ertz2, Marie-Jose Mano1,Annick Wilmotte1
rfernandez@ulg.ac.be
1.Laboratory of cyanobacteria, CIP, Institute of Chemistry, University
of Liege.
2.Institution,National Botanic Garden of Belgium, Department of Cryptogamy (Bryophyta and Thallophyta),
Meise.
The new Belgian “Princess Elisabeth” research station has been constructed on bedrock and in the protected western part of the Sør Rondane mountains range. The proposed construction site is situated close to the Utsteinen Nunatak (71°57’S 23°20’E), on a small relatively flat granite ridge.
This pristine area has not been studied at the biological level, and an exhaustive baseline data is needed to obtain reliable information about the initial state of the environment and to establish the “footprint” of the station and the human impact in the area. Samples were taken on the Utsteinen ridge and nunatak in the austral summers of 2007 (before the construction start) and of 2009 (BELSPO projects ANTAR-IMPACT and BELDIVA). To realize this inventory, we carry out a study of the cyanobacterial diversity by a polyphasic approach. Thus, a molecular approach (study of the 16S RNA gene sequences) and a morphological identification (microscopic observation of the environmental samples) from 12 samples are being carried out. Preliminary results of the molecular study show a quite low diversity (1-4 OTUs) compared to previous studies in Antarctic coastal lakes (4-12 OTUs) with a high degree of endemism and genotypes never recorded before. 92% of the samples shared at least one OTU, concordant with a mobility of species between nearby habitats.
The microscopical observations showed the presence of at least 8 types of cyanobacteria belonging to 7 genera:
